Coffee Lodge Cristal Glamping & Spa

Built into the cloud forest above Mindo's coffee plantations, the lodge takes its name from its Cristal suite: a glass-walled room raised into the tree canopy, looking over coffee rows and a small lake where ducks and otters work the shoreline. The suite runs to 60 square metres and holds a king bed, two sofa beds, a private bathroom, and a jacuzzi that fills in under an hour. At night, guests can watch the stars from the jacuzzi without leaving the room. The estate grows its own coffee, and the beans turn up twice over: in the café-bar, brewed alongside craft beer and wine, and in the spa, where a coffee scrub is one of several treatments built around local, organic ingredients, alongside chocolate, clay, and hot volcanic stone. The restaurant, Kinara, serves a seven-course tasting menu of Ecuadorian dishes by reservation, drawing on produce from nearby growers and a regional pantry of exotic ingredients. It is a compact stay, five minutes from Mindo's central park, set back from the noise of the main streets in a quiet stretch of forest. A swimming pool, games area, and private parking round out the grounds. The lodge courts couples marking anniversaries or proposals with themed dinners, but the setting, coffee plants underfoot and forest on every side, needs no occasion.